Wednesday, May 10, 2017

A pioneer in digital music, eMusic has relaunched with an indie focus similar to its early days. TriPlay acquired eMusic in September of 2015 and has rebuilt the platform from the ground up.

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eMusic has been resurrected as a home for the indie music aficionado with free cloud storage for existing music collections and a catalog of 32 million tracks available for download at at up to 55% off retail.

In an age of streaming, its decidedly risky yet artist and indie label friendly approach. "eMusic is for fans who value ownership of music at a competitive price," says the company, "while knowing they are also fairly supporting musicians and songwriters."

In addition discounted tracks, a free cloud music locker and player apps anchor the new eMusic. Free users get "anywhere access" to their music collection with unlimited cloud storage, plus a free daily music download from an emerging artist. Paid plans start at $3.99 per month, with unlimited access to songs at up to 55% off retail, and range up to $29.99 per month, for the "music connoisseur."

Analysis

eMusic's indie focus will be frustrating for many fans.

Even those who consume mostly indie music, occasionally want the hits. The latest Drake release on the site was from 2005, for example; and indie labels may be hesitant to deep discount their own hit tracks. As for cloud storage, Amazon and Apple both offer affordable music lockers.

Still, the new service stands a chance if it can become an indie music hub, like the original site was. That is clearly its intent. "eMusic Members have spent countless hours growing and curating their private music libraries and see value in the power of their personal cloud through eMusic," insists Tamir Koch, CEO of eMusic owner TriPlay. "In fact, when eMusic Members listen to music, 80% of the time they are listening to their own music collections. We are proud to give our Members an easy, convenient and affordable platform that allows them to expand their collections and access their music from anywhere."

Add more curation, editorial, fan comments and access (even without discounts) to more music, and eMusic could become a home for indie music fans and a boon to indie artists and labels.

Key Features

Some of the features available in the new eMusic include:

Free, unlimited cloud storage and backup so users can store, manage and access their music collection from anywhere

Over 32 million Indie, Jazz and Classical tracks priced up to 55% below leading competitors

Connect up to 10 devices for simultaneous listening, with players for Android, iOS and Web